Can Middle-earth survive the commercialization of Tolkien?
© Michael Martinez
In a letter written to his son Christopher, J.R.R. Tolkien mentioned receiving the International Fantasy Award from the Fifteenth WorldCon in 1957. He added that afterward he was visited by Forrest J. Ackerman and several other people who pitched the idea of making a movie based on The Lord of the Rings.
They have apparently toured America shooting mountain and
desert scenes that seem to fit the story. The Story Line
or Scenario was, however, on a lower level. In fact bad.
But it looks as if business might be done. Stanley U. &
I have agreed on our policy: Art or Cash. Either
very profitable terms indeed; or absolute author's veto
on objectionable features or alterations.
Although many people like to cite later letters from Tolkien where he comments first on a synopsis and then an actual script for the proposed movie (written in 1958), Tolkien eventually settled for Cash and control over the film rights (and all associated merchandising) passed out of Tolkien's hand forever. Was this the ideal solution? For Tolkien it probably was. He was only one man, no matter how popular his book, and the "Hollywood machine" rolls on in its own inflexible way. One either dances to the piper's tune or one leaves the party.
Tolkien eventually realized a considerable income from book sales, especially after The Lord of the Rings took off with the American youth movement of the 1960s. The advent of a paperback edition of the book (two, in fact) resulted in a growth in readership which had previously not been experienced by any author of Fantasy (or Science Fiction). Tolkien was what we'd call Da Man in today's parlance. And he's stayed on top ever since.
The film rights did not go away. They passed to Saul Zaentz, who set up a subsidiary to the Saul Zaentz company called Tolkien Enterprises. It was Zaentz who licensed the film rights to Ralph Bakshi, and Zaentz who has been selling licenses to merchandisers around the world to produce Tolkien games, figures, and paraphernalia. When it comes to commercializing Tolkien's work, Zaentz is Da Man. Zaentz has been controlling the merchandising all along.
Fans often get upset at the commercial interests which have developed around a story they feel is sacrosanct. Had Tolkien foreseen the revenues his characters and plots would produce (or could produce -- the Tolkien family is holding on to non-LOTR rights), he might perhaps have approached matters differently. Perhaps he wouldn't have sold the film rights at all. One must wonder.
